Arizona Coyotes lose in Columbus to rolling Blue Jackets

The Coyotes came into tonight looking for their first win in three games and came out with another loss. The offense has dried up and the defense is dragging, can they turn it around soon?

First Period

1-0 Coyotes: The Coyotes draw a penalty off of Brandon Dubinsky. As they enter the zone, Oliver Ekman-Larsson gets the puck to Alex Goligoski, who gets all of the Columbus penalty killers over to him. Tobias is open in the slot and wires the shot over Bobrovsky for his 7th goal of the season at 9:28 of the first period.

1-1 tie: The Blue Jackets get a powerplay as well, with a suspect high stick call on Lawson Crouse. Sam Gagner deflects a puck in front of Louis Domingue and it just trickles under Domingue’s pad and into the net at 11:39 of the first period.

Second Period

2-1 Columbus: Back on the power play the Blue Jackets enter the zone and Sam Gagner feeds it to Cam Atkinson to slips it to Nick Foligno who backdoor’s it past Domingue at 5:19 of the second period.

Third Period

3-1 Columbus: On a controversial goal Louis Domingue has his stick taken out of his hands and bumped twice before Sam Gagner buries it. Coyotes Challenge but the refs call it a good goal at 11:37 of the third.

4-1 Columbus: The Coyotes are unlucky as Oliver Ekman-Larsson blows a tire and the Blue Jackets manage to keep the puck in the zone. Zach Werenski scores on a bad-angle shot from the corner at 15:00.

Three Answers

1. Will the Coyotes defense show up tonight? - They have only allowed 34 shots on goal this game but the score was 4-1, so I would say no. Not at all.

2. How much longer will Anthony Duclair’s slump last? - Duclair sat tonight, so hopefully being benched will wake him up in the next game he appears in.

3. Can the Coyotes avoid the penalty box and the best power play in the league? Nope, not at all. The Coyotes were undisciplined, taking six penalties and giving up two power play goals.

4. Basically:

Paw Prints

• Catch the Columbus view over at The Cannon
• Coyotes managed to not let Columbus shot 60 pucks at their goaltender.
• Brendan Perlini looked good in his first game with the Coyotes
• Sam Gagner, a former Coyote, had a 2 goal 2 assist night.

Players of the Game

Arizona- Jordan Martinook- He seemed to be the only Coyote who was giving everything he had on the ice, which could come back to bite him tomorrow when they play Chicago.

Columbus- Sam Gagner- He had two goals and two assists with his new club. It pains me that he scored against the Coyotes, but it's nice to see that Gagner has found his game again and a place to play.

Looking Ahead

The Coyotes are right back at it tomorrow night against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center at 6:30pm Arizona time.